Patna High Court
Seepahi RayversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
Holding
The vehicle shall be released upon payment of a Rs 2,000 penalty, considering the minimal quantity of liquor, the petitioner’s poverty, and the absence of evidence of regular liquor transport.
Summary
Petitioner Seepahi Ray filed a writ petition seeking release of his auto seized after police found one litre of illicit country-made liquor in the vehicle, invoking Sections 30(a) and 37 of the Bihar Prohibition & Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022. The State argued that release could only be obtained by filing an application under Rule 12A(2) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2023. The Court examined Rule 12A(2) and Rule 12A(4), noting that the penalty must consider the quantity of intoxicant, the owner’s economic status, and the insured value of the vehicle, and referred to a prior decision (Rakesh Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar) that a 75% penalty would be excessive in the absence of evidence of regular liquor transport. Finding no proof that the petitioner was a habitual transporter and considering his poverty and the meager quantity seized, the Court ordered release of the vehicle upon payment of a Rs 2,000 penalty and submission of ownership documents. The writ petition was consequently disposed of, with the vehicle to be released within the stipulated time.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to release of the seized vehicle on payment of a penalty under Rule 12A(2) given the small quantity of illicit liquor recovered.
- Whether the penalty can be set below the statutory minimum of 10% of the insured value in view of the petitioner’s poverty and lack of evidence of regular liquor transport.
- Whether the High Court can invoke its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 to avoid multiplicity of proceedings in this matter.
Subjects
- Prohibition law
- Excise
- Vehicle seizure
- Penalty
- Article 226
- Writ petition
- Illicit liquor
- Release of vehicle
- Poverty
- Rule 12A
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 882 of 2026
======================================================
Seepahi Ray Son of Dindayal Ray, resident of village- Raghopur Purbi, P.S. -
Raghopur, District- Vaishali (Bihar).
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Additional Chief Secretary, Prohibition
Excise and Registration Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
2. The Excise Commissioner, Prohibition Excise and Registration Department,
Government of Bihar, Patna.
3. The District Magistrate, Patna.
4. The Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna.
5. The Superintendent of Excise, District- Patna.
6. The Station House Officer, Bypass P.S., District- Patna.
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Manoranjan Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Arvind Ujjwal, SC-04
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR JHA
ORAL JUDGMENT
(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH)
Date: 16-03-2026
The present writ petition has been filed for directing the
respondents to release the three-wheeler auto passenger vehicle
(TVS Motor Company Ltd. Make-Model No. TVS KingZ5+FI)
bearing Registration No. BR01PQ8085, Engine No.
AF4HP4101150, Chasis No. MD6M14CF7P4H00425 in favour
of the petitioner.
02. The brief facts of the case are that on 25.11.2025 while
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the police personnel were on duty, one auto was seen coming
rapidly, whereupon the same was stopped and while enquiry
was being made from the driver, he started speaking in an
incoherent manner as also smell of liquor was oozing out from
his mouth. Thereafter, search was made and one litre of illicit
country made liquor was recovered from the said auto in
question. The said occurrence led to filing of Bypass P.S. Case
No. 5117085250582 of 2025 dt. 25.11.2025, registered under
Section 30(a) and 37 of the Bihar Prohibition & Excise
(Amendment) Act, 2022 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”)
against the petitioner.
03. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that meager
quantity of one litre illicit country made liquor has been
recovered from the auto in question as also the petitioner is very
poor hence, a lenient view of the matter be taken and the vehicle
in question be released upon payment of reasonable fine.
04. Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondents/State
submits that confiscation case has already been initiated,
however the petitioner has not filed any application for release
of auto till date, hence he may file appropriate application under
Rule 12A (2) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment)
Rules, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as “the Rules, 2023”).
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05. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties. At this
juncture, we would like to reproduce Rule 12A(2) of the Rules,
2023 herein below:-
“Rule 12A (Release of Vehicles, Conveyance etc. on
Payment of Penalty):-
"(2) The amount of penalty shall be as decided by the
Collector or the Officer authorized by him. While
imposing the penalty, he shall have due regard to the
quantity of intoxicant recovered, involvement of the
vehicle owner and the latest insurance value of the
vehicle. In no case, the penalty should be less than 10%
of the insured value of the vehicle and more than Rs. 5
lakhs. The insured value is the value of the vehicle as
assessed by the insurance company. Where, the insured
value is not available or the Collector or the Officer
authorized by him has reason to believe that the vehicle is
undervalued, he shall get the valuation done by the
District Transport Officer. In any case, the Collector
shall not wait beyond 15 days from the date of seizure
and if during this period, the accused/owner does not pay
up the penalty, he shall proceed with the confiscation/
auction."
06. A bare perusal of Rule 12A(2) of the Rules, 2023 would
show that while imposing penalty, the quantity of intoxicant
recovered is also required to be considered. Nonetheless, at this
juncture we would like to refer to an order dated 26.11.2025,
passed by a coordinate Bench of this Court in CWJC No.14928
of 2025 (Rakesh Kumar Singh vs. the State of Bihar & Ors),
wherein it has been held as under:-
"In absence of any specific ground that the vehicle was in
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regular use for transportation of liquors or that the
owner of the vehicle was found involved in transportation
of the liquors and/or there are multiple cases of similar
nature against the owner or the vehicle, imposition of the
penalty to the extent of 75 per cent of the insured value is
an onerous condition and it amounts to virtually creating
a situation where huge hardship may be caused to an
owner of the vehicle in getting release of the vehicle."
07. Yet another aspect of the matter is that Rule 12A(4) of the
Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2022
provides that while imposing fine, the Collector or the officer
authorized by him shall have due regard to the economic status
of the individual, nature of his involvement in the crime and the
quantum of intoxicant recovered.
08. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the case
as also taking into account the fact that meager quantity of one
litre illicit country made liquor has been recovered, the
petitioner is poor and no material has been brought in the
counter affidavit filed by the respondents to show that either the
petitioner/his vehicle was regularly involved in transportation of
illicit liquor or the petitioner is involved in multiple cases of
similar nature, which are also the factors required to be
considered while imposing penalty for release of the vehicle, as
has been provided under Rule 12A(2) of the Rules, 2023 and
Rule 12A(4) of the Rules, 2022, we are of the considered view
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that it would be in the interest of justice and equitable, if the
petitioner is directed to pay a sum of Rs.2,000/- by way of
penalty for the purposes of release of the auto in question.
09. At this juncture, the learned counsel for the petitioner
submits that the petitioner would be depositing a sum of
Rs.2,000/- within a period of three weeks from today and shall
make available the documents of ownership of the vehicle in
question before the competent authority.
10. In such view of the matter, we direct that in case the
aforesaid sum of Rs.2,000/- is deposited before the competent
authority within a period of three weeks from today, the vehicle
in question shall be released in favour of the petitioner, after
being satisfied with the documents relating to the ownership of
the vehicle in question, within a period of one week, thereafter.
11. It is needless to state that the present order has been
passed by us while invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction under
Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the reason that
unnecessarily the petitioner shall be liable to be subjected to
various proceedings like the one under Rule 12A of the Rules,
2023, Section 57B, 58, 92 and 93 of the Bihar Prohibition and
Excise Act, 2016, as amended upto date, for a meager recovery
of one litre illicit country made liquor, as also with a view to
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avoid and prevent multiplicity of proceedings, in the interest of
justice.
12. Accordingly, the present writ petition stands disposed of
on the aforesaid terms.
(Mohit Kumar Shah, J)
Anuradha/- (Arun Kumar Jha, J)
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE N/A
Uploading Date 25.03.2026
Transmission Date N/A
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